Game of Patience

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"Your bed." Mark growled as he grabbed a chair. "You sleep here tonight, and I sit here tonight."

Brooke looked at the mattress on the floor. They had thrown a sleeping bag on top, literally. The sleeping bag was in a heap and Brooke bent down to straighten it up. She looked up at Mark who was sitting twenty centimeters from her.

"I don't have a pillow."

"Get a cushion." He spat.

Brooke moved quickly and grabbed the cushion closest to her. She shot back to the mattress and sat down. It wasn't comfortable, not in the slightest. But it was probably better than sleeping on the hard floor. Not to mention it would be warmer.

"Sleep." He didn't even attempt to hide his annoyance from Brooke.

"I can't sleep on command, believe it or not." Mark stared at her and she laid on her side and placed her head on the cushion. "I can't sleep when you're looking at me."

"Don't care."

She flipped over onto her back and looked up at Mark who was sitting above her head. She could see the hate behind his eyes. She waited as Simon sneaked behind him. He signalled to Brooke.

"No bedtime story?"

For a moment there was silence, then Mark moved too quick. The next thing she knew she could smell dinner on his breath and could feel the coolness of his blade on her neck.

"Once upon a time, there was a teenage girl who was needed for something big. But she wouldn't shut up." He pulled the blade closer to her throat, if she sneezed or moved even in the slightest, it would cut her. "She pissed off a guy and even though the group would be angry with him if he killed her, he would make up an excuse and they would soon forget about it and find another way."

Brooke watched as Simon slipped pills into Mark's fresh cup of tea.

"In fact, they might thank him for getting rid of the annoying girl, because then they would actually be able to finish a job instead of babysitting. The end."

He removed the blade and pushed her head onto the pillow.

"Now sleep!"

Brooke could feel her heart in her throat, pounding, sending ripples through her whole body. She choked the lump down and forced herself to close her eyes. Now she had to wait.

She didn't sleep, she closed her eyes and concentrated on slowing her breathing, even though her heart wanted to jump out of her chest and punch Mark. She occasionally let out a low faint snoring sound to fool Mark.

She wasn't aware how long she did this for, there were no clocks in the building, probably to confuse them and make them feel cut off from the world.

She heard snoring and risked a look. Mark was sound asleep, tea had been split down the front of his top.

She got up and sneaked to the oven.

Simon was the one who did all the cooking. He enjoyed it and no one argued. The others got all the ingredients and trusted him enough not to poison any of them. It also meant no one would open the oven for anything.

When Spencer discovered his keys were missing he blamed the others. After all Simon had been cooking and wouldn't dream of trying to escape, he had been here long enough that they trusted him.

Brooke had been sitting on the sofa and Spencer passed her, they never came in contact. It was a perfect plan. She gave herself an alibi by attempting to break the window lock. There was no way she would have fitted through that window. But the others were too stupid to realise that. She needed to be caught, she needed their minds to be on other things so they wouldn't focus on the keys.

Spencer was too tired, Mark was too angry and Andrew couldn't keep his eyes on everything.

Simon had convinced Spencer that he had put his keys on the kitchen side as he grabbed food. He was looking at his fellow criminals for answers about the keys. After all, can you really trust another criminal? Even if you did agree to work together, what's to say they won't branch out on their own. After all, as they say, there is no honour among thieves. Nor is there honour among thugs, hired muscle or criminal leaders.

Brooke opened the oven and took out the keys. She made sure to wrap her hand around them tightly so they didn't make a noise. She checked on Mark, who was still sound asleep.

She slipped on her shoes and coat and unlocked the front door.

Through all this planning, there was one thing they didn't count on. They didn't even consider that it was a possibility. But in that moment, Brooke felt so stupid. She considered taking off her shoes and getting back into bed and pretending to be asleep. She wished for anything to happen other than this.

She froze. She couldn't believe that she missed this. She needed to move, make a decision and stick with it. Her quiet escape had been ruined, she had hoped that at the very least the car starting up would wake everyone up. She stood in the doorframe, the alarm blaring around her.